Growing Pain
by le faye storyteller
Summary: Revised & Reposted! Oneshot. Dawn has her first period. Spike’s the only one there to help … wackiness and mayhem …


A/N: Revised and Reposted! Up-ed the rating, downplayed the language. Hopefully no longer worth a complaint, but I liked this story too much to give it up.

Old A/N: Entirely random. I'm not quite sure where this came from, but I'm sharing it with you guys anyway. (I'm assuming Dawn's around 13 or 14 at the end of S5, but I can't really remember.)

The people aren't meant to be entirely in character. This is almost an AU where the situation is slightly different (just because I say so :D).

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. This story plot is partially from a friend, so not entirely mine.

Setting: The summer between S5 and S6. Sunnydale, of course.

Pairings: No focus. Dawn/Spike _friendship_.

Spoilers: Um, S5 – maybe. And 'The Gift.'

Rating: T (PG-13). Bad words. If puberty, pads, or inept male role-model-figures offend you, then you probably won't wanna read this …

Reviews: Of COURSE!

Summary: One-shot. Dawn has her first period. Spike's the only one there to help … wackiness and mayhem …

Now, without further ado …

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The shrill cry pierced the night and sent Spike tumbling out of his makeshift bed on the Summers' couch.

Picking himself up off the floor, the vampire rubbed his sleep-clouded eyes a few times before quickly racing up the stairs to Dawn's room.

The few weeks that had passed had not lessened the impact of that horrific day when Glory had nearly succeeded in unleashing hell-on-earth, and Buffy had plummeted to her death. More often than not, the younger Summers girl woke screaming from battling the demons in her nightmares, leading Spike to insist – despite his own depression and the minor protests from the Scoobies – that he move in to care for her.

But tonight, something was different …

Spike paused for a moment at the top of the stairs, cocking his head to one side as he sniffed to make sure … no, he was right. It was there. _Blood …_

Quickening his pace, the vampire burst into Dawn's room to find …

… nothing. The teenager in question was sitting in bed, hugging her knees tightly, but her sobs had subsided to quiet sniffles. Other than that, there was nothing out of the ordinary. But still …

"Nibblet? Wha' happened?" Spike continued to gaze around the room, even as he walked over to comfort Dawn. "Why do I smell blood?"

The teenager sighed and wiped at her eyes. "I'm OK, Spike. Really. 'S just another nightmare. Sorry I woke you."

"Tha' doesn't matter, Bit," Spike answered absently, still trying to find the source of his confusion. Suddenly, he spotted a dark-ish spot on Dawn's blanket.

"'Ell! You _are_ bleeding! Wha'd'you do, Dawn?" Normally unfazed by the sight of blood, Spike had become uncharacteristically jumpy.

The use of her given name and the vampire's apparent panic made Dawn frown. "I'm not bleeding…"

She trailed off as she saw the spot Spiked pointed at. "Oh."

"Wha' could you have possibly cut yourself on, luv?" The vampire questioned, half to himself. He tore off a section of the already-ruined sheet, preparing to use it as a bandage.

Glancing up, he saw that Dawn had a peculiar expression on her face. "Spike, I don't think I have a cut…"

She was right. Her skin remained unmarred, and the blood spot had not gotten any larger.

"Then why're you bleeding?" He asked, dreading the answer.

"Um, I think it's my thing," Dawn explained unhelpfully.

Spike's brows knitted together in puzzlement. "Wha' thing?"

"That _thing_."

"_What_ thing, Dawn?"

The teenager bit her lip nervously. "That girl thing …"

"Oh." _Bloody 'ell, _that_ thing …_

Of all the possible moments for this issue to surface, this had to be the worst. Red and Glinda – the two best for dealing with this - were on some Wiccan retreat and currently unreachable. Demon Girl had gone with Harris somewhere (Spike had spaced in the middle of listening in that conversation), and even Giles – if the vampire should get desperate enough to call him – was off in England on business.

This was part of the reason why the gang had not put up more of a fight in allowing Spike to move in with Dawn, yet he feverishly wished one of the girls was back here in Sunnyhell at the moment. Speaking of which …

"Well, I guess I'll leave you alone to do what you … um, normally do for this," Spike stuttered as he tried to rectify this extremely embarrassing situation. He hoped …

"But I've never had it before!" Dawn wailed.

Shit. Hope died.

"Did you and your mum ever talk 'bout …" Spike gestured helplessly, finding himself unable to say the word.

"Yeah, but it was questionable after the whole being-a-mystical-Key thing, and I'm not sure what to do anyways, and it's not like there're any pads in the house 'cause Buffy used tampons, and …"

The teenager looked ready to cry again, and Spike patted her back awkwardly as he tried to find a course of action. "Here, Bit, go the bathroom and get cleaned up, an' I'll try to ring Red or Ahn."

Dawn nodded tearily as she got up, and Spike escaped downstairs as he searched for the emergency phone numbers.

As luck would have it, Willow and Tara were in another dimension not to return until tomorrow, and only Xander was available. Spike gritted his teeth as he punched in the number.

_Ring. Ring._

"Hello?"

"'lo, Harris."

There was a shocked pause on the other end. "Spike? What are you doing? It's the middle of the night. Some people need their beauty sleep, ya'know?"

"No 'mount of sleep could help you," Spike muttered, then before Xander could answer, he continued, "Listen, I need to talk to Anya. She there?"

Spike could almost see Xander narrow his eyes suspiciously. "Why would you need to talk to Anya? What did you do? Did you do something to Dawn – because if you did, your evil undead ass is so staked – "

It was already becoming a long night, and Spike didn't have the patience to listen to another of Xander's 'let's-kill-Spike' speeches. "SODDIN' 'ELL, WHELP! JUS' PUT ANYA ON THE BLOODY PHONE!"

Which, of course, made Xander begin another round of 20 Questions before Anya snatched the phone away.

"This had better be good, Spike. Xander was just in the middle of giving me many pleasurable orgasms."

Spike paused for a moment to try to clear away the gruesome mental image before ignoring Anya's comment and plowing on. "I need your 'elp wi' somethin'. Dawn jus' got her first _thing_, and we don' know wha' to do."

Another silence. Then: "What thing?"

Spike groaned, then tried to explain. "That thing."

"You want to narrow down the list of possible 'things' in the world?"

"That woman thing."

"What woman thing!"

"Tha' monthly thing, wi' the bleedin' …"

"Oh! You mean Dawn's begun her menstruation cycle?"

"What's tha'?" Spike could almost see Anya roll her eyes and tap her feet impatiently.

"Her _period_."

_Ohhh. That was what it was._ "Um, yeah … I guess."

"You could've just said so, Spike," the former demon said impatiently.

"I did!" Spike yelled with irritation. Inwardly, he winced. What Anya had just named sounded painful, and not for the first time, he felt thankful that he was a guy – and a vampire. Then he remembered that he still needed the former demon's help, and turned his attention back to the conversation.

Anya was still arguing. "No, you said -"

"Never mind. Jus' tell me wha' to do!"

"Fine. Does she have any feminine napkins?"

"Say wha'?"

On the other end, Anya let out a huffy breath. Guys – no matter what the species – could be really clueless. "_Pads_."

"Oh. No, but there might be tampons -"

"Won't work … unless you can show her how to use them."

Spike paled considerably for a vampire at that thought. "Um, prob'ly not the best idea."

"Then you'll have to go out and buy pads."

"Right. Where?"

"Geez, Spike, haven't you every been to a supermarket?" There were some scuffling noises in the background. Anya continued on, "And, for some reason, this is supposed to be a 'special moment' for humans, so make sure you do something special for Dawn."

With that last rushed message, Anya hung up on Spike, Leaving him with a dozen more questions.

"Shit." He cursed softly as he replaced the phone on its cradle.

Spike ran his hand through his hair before calling out, "Platelet, 're you any better? We need to make a quick run to the store …"

xoxox

Dawn had been decidedly adamant about not leaving the bathroom, and it had taken all of Spike's skill to convince her that she needed to help him at the supermarket.

She had finally left her comfort zone with a makeshift cloth pad for the bleeding, and the pair had driven to the store.

The vampire now pushed the teenager around the 24-hour supermarket in a metal shopping cart, searching for the right aisle.

"'Ey, Bit," Spike began nervously, "D'you want somethin' to celebrate, y'know, becomin' a … er, woman an' all …"

He trailed off and looked at her expectantly, and was surprised when Dawn answered, "No, that's OK. I did the whole growing-up celebration with Mom just before."

She didn't need to state what she meant by 'before,' and although her words were casual, Spike could read the buried pain in her eyes. "Nibblet …"

Dawn rubbed at her eyes. "I know what you're going to say, Spike, and – really – I'm fine. We've been through this one."

Spike stopped the cart for a moment to stand next to the young brunette. "Nuh-uh, Bit. I was goin' to tell you that this past year's prob'ly been harshest for you out of all of us, and for wha' it's worth, 'm really proud of you for not givin' up and gettin' though it all."

He was suddenly engulfed with an impromptu lopsided – since Dawn was still sitting in the cart – hug. "Thanks, Spike, it means a lot." Then: "Ooo, chocolate!"

Momentarily thrown by the abrupt change in subject, the bleached vamp glanced around confusedly. "Chocolate?"

Dawn pulled back and pointed to a sales rack behind him. "Yup. I suddenly really, really want chocolate. Can we get a bag?" she asked with a slight pout.

Spike gave a small, wry grin. "Sure, luv," he said as he passed her a bag of the sweets. Dawn immediately tore it open and began attacking the helpless mini-bars of Hershey.

With the touchy-feely-bonding-ness of the moment entirely shattered, the pair continued on their search …

xoxox

… and found what Spike could possibly classify as the most terrifying sight in his life.

He and Dawn stood at the head of the longest line of merchandise, titled 'Feminine Hygiene Products.' Row after row of pads and tampons lined each side.

"It's bleedin' well longer than the soddin' Great Wall of China," the somewhat frightened vamp mumbled.

"Holy shit!" Dawn whispered through a mouthful of chocolate. For once, Spike didn't bother to call her on her swearing (although, as Dawn had pointed out several times, it was quite hypocritical when he did, considering his own habits, but, anyways …back to the current situation …).

There were overnights, medium, light, wings, contoured ones, thin ones, ones with extra absorbency, special ones with a strip of protection to keep…whatever (he didn't really want to think about it) in the middle! Even scented ones!

_Why would they need a bleedin' _scented_ one!_

"'K, luv … which one do you want?" Spike asked uncertainly.

"How should I know!" The chocolate had made the already mood-swingy teen even more hyper, and she now bounced with nervous energy.

The two stared at the row for a good few minutes.

"Well … we could always get one of each …" Dawn suggested slowly.

"Bloody 'ell, Bit! That'll take us forever!"

"But I don't know which one's right!"

Another minute … "Fine."

The vampire stalked off to get a few more carts as Dawn began filling the one she sat in.

Half an hour, too many estrogen-related topics, and three carts later …

An entirely pissed off vamp and a weary Dawn approached the checkout line as the pudgy teen glanced up in surprise. He eyed the odd looking punk-man, the half-asleep girl and what had to be the entire feminine hygiene aisle curiously, but recovered quickly. The night shift was a weird one in Sunnydale.

"Good …er," the boy glanced at his watch, "morning, sir. How can I help you?"

"Ring us up," Spike said menacingly, slamming boxes onto the conveyor belt.

"Right."

A few moments … then the clerk's curiosity began to get the better of him.

"Um, sir, mind if I ask you a sort've personal question? It's totally cool if you don't answer," he assured hastily after seeing Spike's look.

Spike glared, then bit out, "What, is your question?"

"Are you throwing, like, one of those women shower things?"

"What kind of wanker would give _pads_ as gifts a party?"

Entirely oblivious to his current danger, and lacking knowledge of British slang, the clerk gave a most dangerous answer. "Um, I dunno. You?"

His chip and the presence of Dawn kept Spike from vamping and killing the fool – if only to vent his frustration.

As it was, he was hard press not to rethink his decision when the teen called out as they exited the store, "Hope you have a good time at your feminine products party!"

Dawn chose this moment to wake up, "Who's having a party?"

"No one, Bit," Spike reassured her. "Go back to sleep."

xoxox

After unloading the car, Spike left the boxes and boxes of pads scattered around the living room, deciding he was too exhausted to find a place to store them properly.

"Um, Spike?" Dawn asked.

The vampire glanced at her, wonder what crisis he'd have to deal with next. "Yeah, Bit."

"I still don't know which one to use …"

_Bloody. Frickin'. Soddin'. Hell._

Spike didn't even have the energy to get annoyed anymore. "Jus' use the one that stops the bleedin', luv."

Dawn must have noticed how off the vampire was because all she did was squeak a quiet _OK_, and run upstairs to get cleaned up.

When she came back down a few minutes later, she found Spike entirely asleep, sprawled on the couch. Smiling, she made sure the curtains were tightly closed, shifted a few limbs and curled up next to him …

And this was how the Wiccas and Xander found them when they came by to check on the pair nearly 12 hours later. Anya had informed them of what Spike's midnight call had been about, and they had returned to Sunnydale as soon as they could.

"Whoa! Did the Kotex fairy's wand explode in here?" Xander quipped as he surveyed the mess that surrounded the sleeping pair.

"Wow. Spike really went all out for Dawn, didn't he?" Willow observed.

"Everything must have turned out alright in the end," Tara commented softly, looking at Dawn and Spike.

The witches shared a soft smile and look before beginning their clean up and enlisting Xander to help them. They decided to let the girl and vampire rest.

"At least Dawn won't have to worry about buying pads for a long while," Willow decided as they finished sorting the mess.

The three friends laughed, and made a mental note to get the full story from one of the sleeping pair later. It had to be too good to miss.

* * *

So … like, love, hate? Drop a note! (If you've read this and reviewed before, it'd be much appreciated if you'd re-review – I lost all the happy comments I had before). : D

le faye


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